Alice Bag isn't a belated victory lap from a veteran of the punk rock wars, it's a diverse and deeply satisfying album from an artist who is finally getting a chance to live up to her great potential, and here she isn't missing a trick.

As he imbues his songs with more warmth than most synth pop and more distance than most singer/songwriters, Cameron charts his own territory on Jumping the Shark with striking and moving results.

While this is easily Horseback's most "laid-back" effort, it's also the one with the most going on musically. It's impossible to pin it all down; simply surrender, let it have its way. You won't regret it.

It's a welcome return, as is Glory as a whole: it feels as fun and frivolous as her earliest music while retaining the freshness of her best mature work.

Anything But Words is a stellar and truly collaborative endeavor between two creative energies, the result of an organic songwriting process that is anything but thrown together.

Prima Donna is an essential snapshot of 2016 that bears witness to the evolution of an artist coming into his own with an unflinching, socially conscious perspective.

The elements that are new here play out like a means to an end for a songwriter with a tale to tell, one chock-full of raw emotions. The songs stand just fine on their own, too, out of context.

Well over a decade after the release of Eluvium's brilliant 2003 debut, Lambent Material, Cooper continues to sound inspired and inventive.

From start to finish, Trick is arresting, with enough sonic surprises to excite and perplex listeners freed from the restrictions of genre boundaries.

Young Thug presents his best case for inclusion in the pantheon of hip-hop influencers with JEFFERY, a release as inspired as it is inspiring.

Yes, the references are abundant--in an homage, they're supposed to be. Wobble employs them with a curator's taste; his skill as a bandleader creates space for disparate tongues to communicate before evolving into a different musical language--his own. Everything Is NoThing is a monster.

Exodus of Venus is an achievement both redemptive and transformative.

Worship the Sun was pretty great garage rock revivalism filtered through a gently psychedelic filter; Calico Review might be even better.

They've always existed in their own space, and Trouble is yet another fine example of their fascinating art.

The record captures Dwyer and the group at their peak powers, and while maybe it's not as good as seeing the band on-stage, where Dwyer's gleefully wild antics take it right to the edge of being a spectacle, it's pretty spectacular.

What impresses is the consistency. Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016 not only is a strong set of songs but it makes it plain that White has been mining the same territory, finding something new within it for nearly two decades.

What gives KIN its weight is Tunstall's craft. Invisible Empire/Crescent Moon proved that she could turn inward and be gripping but by turning that aesthetic inside out—this is an album about embracing the outside world--she's every bit as compelling.

Wild World proves that Bastille can build on their success with style. They're the kind of band that sounds better as they get bigger, and their thoughtful lyrics, jaunty melodies, and huge choruses could fill a Coldplay-shaped hole in listeners' hearts.

It's up to the label's high standard, a riveting composite of grief and filth like no other.

Even if it's not as full of surprises as the original album was, E-MO-TION [Side B] might be even more cohesive--and should delight fans of perfectly crafted pop just as much.

Even by Cave's dour standards, Skeleton Tree is a tough listen, but it's also a powerful and revealing one, and a singular work from a one-of-a-kind artist.

Goodbye to Language is a powerful, intoxicating album and one of Lanois' best works in at least a decade.

Preoccupations is a more coherent, more accessible set of songs that proves this band doesn't need an edgy name to attract the attention they deserve.

While comparisons and familiar tones abound, they shouldn't detract from what Troy and Edwards excel at delivering. They mostly serve as touchstones to lock Deap Vally into the ranks of similar artists as genuinely concerned with rocking listeners into sweet submission.

The balance between these quiet, thoughtful songs, the needle-bouncing rockers, and the jumping Monkees-ish pop of tracks like "Stick Your Hand Up if You're Louche" makes for a thrill ride of an album, and a better example of modern guitar pop than Cosmonaut is pretty hard to find no matter where one might look.

Decades later, it's still thrilling to hear the band and the crowd feed off the excitement of the other.

Shape Shift with Me feels considerably lighter than its predecessor: Grace is reveling in her mess, resulting in an album that is lighter, fleeter, hookier, and more fun than its predecessor.

It couldn't be more dystopian. It's also a completely exhilarating thrill ride, and highly recommended for fans of other bass-heavy sound bombers such as Amnesia Scanner and Brood Ma.